(CNN)The much-hyped trio of Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappé and Neymar failed to inspire Paris Saint-Germain to triumph successful its Champions League opener connected Wednesday, with the French broadside being held to a 1-1 gully by Club Brugge.
Messi was playing the 150th Champions League crippled of his vocation -- and his archetypal for PSG -- but the Ligue 1 broadside failed to click successful what proved to beryllium a tricky distant crippled successful Belgium.
With its electrical attacking trio of stars, the Parisians were steadfast favorites going into the necktie and took an expected pb done Ander Herrera aft 15 minutes.
But the hosts deed backmost earlier the fractional an hr mark, with Hans Vanaken scoring a deserved equalizer.
Brugge past had chances to triumph the lucifer and managed to support Messi and his chap stars quiescent for astir of the crippled -- though the Argentine did deed the crossbar with a trademark changeable from distance.
"Nobody successful the squad tin beryllium blessed with their show and cipher tin beryllium blessed with this result," PSG caput manager Mauricio Pochettino told reporters aft the match.
"We came present to instrumentality points. All the points. Hats disconnected to Club Brugge. They wanted it much than america contiguous and they merit the point."
Many astatine the nine hoped Messi would beryllium the missing portion of the puzzle successful PSG's hunt for a Champions League trophy but it seems the broadside is inactive a enactment successful progress.
The six-time Ballon d'Or victor showed glimpses of magic but the broadside looked similar a squad of individuals alternatively than a cohesive unit.
"We request clip to enactment for them to physique an understanding," Pochettino said, speaking astir Messi, Neymar and Mbappé.
"That's been wide and we've said that successful caller days. We inactive person to make a team."
The nighttime got adjacent much disappointing for PSG erstwhile Mbappé limped disconnected injured conscionable six minutes into the 2nd half.
The 22-year-old was tended to by aesculapian unit earlier hobbling disconnected the transportation with what appeared to beryllium an ankle injury.
Manchester City excel
While PSG struggled, Manchester City excelled successful a classical Champions League brushwood against RB Leipzig.
Pep Guardiola's broadside won 6-3 successful a scintillating show but helium whitethorn beryllium acrophobic by the magnitude of goals the defence leaked astatine the Etihad Stadium.
Christopher Nkunku scored a hat-trick for the German broadside but City's forwards made amends with goals from Nathan Ake, Jack Grealish, Riyad Mahrez, João Cancelo and Gabriel Jesus each adding to an ain extremity scored by Nordi Mukiele.
"Leipzig ne'er springiness up. They person a peculiar mode to attack. They play each oregon nothing," Guardiola told BT Sport aft the match.
"You ne'er person the feeling it's over. We scored a fewer minutes aft they scored and it helped america a lot.
"They person a young team, truthful aggressive, truthful strong. A fantastic team. Leipzig springiness a bully connection to football. The prime of [our] players was amended contiguous and that's wherefore we won."
Grealish, the $138 cardinal summertime signing, looked the champion of City's attacking endowment arsenic the Englishman showed wherefore the nine invested truthful heavy successful him.
His creativity from retired wide was a large portion of his team's occurrence and bodes good with Guardiola bidding to yet triumph the Champions League trophy astatine City.
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